When was the last time you bathed? Brushed your teeth? (Speaking for the rest of humanity, I hope it was within the last twelve hours.) What about your pet? If you can’t remember the last time your dog got a bath or cat got a brushing, then your pet is overdue. Whether you do it yourself or take your pet to a professional, here’s how regular pet grooming keeps your best friend healthy, from head to tail.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF GROOMING YOUR PET
1. Health of your pet’s coat
Hair shedding is very important in allowing our pets to control their body temperature. Sometimes when our pets moult, the hairs remain stuck to the body elsewhere still having an insulating effect. When we groom and remove loose, shed hairs, new healthy hairs are able to come through the skin more easily, ensuring the coat looks healthy and can function effectively. Lack of grooming can cause a build-up of grease, accumulation of dead skin and bodily fluids on the surface of the skin, which can block pores and cause cysts to form. Grooming, therefore, helps to prevent skin conditions as well as improving the appearance of their fur.
2. Clean your dog’s ears
Ears should be cleaned on a regular basis in dogs, especially those that are prone to ear infections. Dogs’ ears have hair that has to be plucked frequently, however, this is more common in long-coated dogs than in others. In this video, our Master Groomer, Katie Rourke Dowding shows every single step you should take in order to properly brush your long haired dog and his face. Even so, keeping your dog’s ears clean will help avoid ear infections, ear mites, and other problems. It will also make your dog feel more at ease.
Here’s how to clean your dog’s ears.
To make sure you don’t miss any products when trying to groom your pet at home, we prepared for you the most wanted WildWash Ultimate Grooming Kit for Large Long Haired Dogs that contains everything you need to take good care of your pet. The kit is perfect for all medium to large, long haired dog breeds such as Old English Sheepdog, Standard Poodle, Labradoodle, Bernese Mountain Dog, Golden Retriever, Schnauzer, Newfoundland, Rough Collie, Afghan Hound.
But don’t worry, we also prepared Ultimate Grooming Kits for:
♦ Small Large Short Dogs (Labrador, Boxer, Staffie, Boston Terrier, Great Dane, Rottweiler, Doberman)
♦ Small Short Haired Dogs (Pug, Beagle, French Bulldog, Jack Russel, Italian Greyhound, Smooth Dachshund)
♦ Small Long Haired Dogs (Maltese, Havanese, Yorkshire Terrier, Coton de Tulear, Lhaso Apso, Lowchen, Papillon, Cockerpoo, Cavapoo, Toy Poodle, Bichon Frise, King Charles Cavalier, Miniature Schnauzer)
♦ Short Haired Cats (British Shorthair, Russian Blue, Bengal, Siamese, Domestic Shorthair)
♦ Long Haired Cats (Persian, Maine Coon, Birman, Ragdoll, Pixie Bob)
3. Detecting disease
By regularly grooming, you’re constantly checking your pet all over. This makes it much easier to discover signs of illness such as weight loss, sores, lumps and bumps. If you detect any of these signs, you will know that you need to make a vet appointment to get them checked before they become a problem.
4. Allergies
Many people are allergic to dust found within the hairs of animal skin. This allergen causes a reaction when the amount in the environment is above a certain threshold. If you brush your pets little and often, this reduces the risk of the allergen accumulating up to harmful amounts reduces the risk of an allergic reaction. It helps to keep the coat manageable.
5. Fleas
Grooming is one of the more effective ways to remove adult fleas from the body. Physically removing the flea from the body ensures immediate removal, although is more time consuming than using a spray. Flea combs can be used to remove flea dirt and flea eggs too. That said, you cannot rely on them, as most of the fleas are in the environment, not on the pet! Think of grooming as one extra way to control fleas, meaning your routine flea treatment is that much more effective.
6. Cleanliness of house
Brushing your pet to remove excess hair helps to reduce the amount that you will find blowing around on your floor and stuck to carpets!
7. Cleanliness of pet
Grooming helps to get rid of any dirt the coat has accumulated during the day, whether that be visible to the naked eye or not. If pets go outdoors, move, and rub along objects, their fur can become matted. This can be very irritating for pets and if the mats get too large, they can restrict movement. Mats gather dirt, food and wetness which can lead to further skin conditions. In case this already happened and your dog needs to get rid of mats, Katie explains How to Remove Mats in Your Dog’s Fur.
8. Social bonding
Pet grooming is a good activity to help get your pet used to being handled. The more frequently you groom, the less stress will be associated with the procedure. This is important and useful, as it will make procedures like visiting the vet or groomers less stressful when palpating must be done.
Overall, frequent grooming for a small amount of time helps to keep our furry friends healthy and happy and should, therefore, be performed by owners.
If you’d like to find more tips and techniques on How To Groom Your Pet At Home, on our YouTube Channel you can find how a professional groomer takes care of this step by step.